It's more accurate to say that "water" was a counter to the fake question "how did the floor get wet?". Your question really meant "a kid spilling water on the floor is a culturally approved event that I can punish in response to. Saying the name of the kid initiates the punishment sequence. Say the name of the kid."

Her response with "water" really meant "I see through your fake question and I'm blocking the punishment sequence from continuing."

well, near a three-year-old it could be some other liquid, too. So in this case "water" is shorthand for "I spilled some water, no need to change clothes". Some kids don't like to talk too much, and I know grown-ups that would have just grunted and shown you a glass of water.

I remember my pre-verbal almost-two year old, hauled up to his room during some power struggle, plonked in his room, and told by me "do not take one step out of this room!"

Standing in the doorway, but *just* inside it, he looked me square in the eye, and banged his *hand* down in the hallway outside his room.

I was agog for a second or two, and then I had to flee before I laughed out loud at the idea that I'd just been bested by a two-year old. (If I'd laughed in his presence when he was in royal ire, he'd been ticked for hours. Like most small children, he had a keen sense of dignity.)

I'm not sure I'm with Engywuck on this one. Once I saw a puddle on the floor and asked my three-year-old what it was, she said "water". Seeing no obvious source (e.g. spilled cup), I asked where it came from.

She answered, in her adorable 3-year-old syntax, "It leak out of mine butt."